‘Dark’ Part-time Jobs to Be Tackled with More Stringent Posting Requirements, Investigations Using Fake IDs

The Yomiuri Shimbun

17:37 JST, December 17, 2024

The government on Tuesday decided on emergency measures to stop robberies involving those recruited through “dark” part-time job ads on social media.

The measures, which were adopted at a ministerial meeting on crime, clarify that recruiting people without providing information about the recruiter or a job description is illegal, and they introduce investigations using fake identities. The government aims to strengthen deterrence and prevention of the crimes through the measures.

“I want the authorities to work quickly on these various measures, with a determination to protect citizens,” said Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the meeting.

Since August, there have been a total of 24 robberies tied to dark part-time jobs in Tokyo and five prefecture including Chiba and Kanagawa. The organizers of these robberies recruit people through posts mainly on X, formerly Twitter, by advertising “high-paying jobs” or “legitimate job opportunities.” Recruiters then instruct applicants to communicate through secure apps, where they coerce them into taking part in a crime.

The emergency measures clarify that recruitment without presenting information such as the recruiter’s name and contact information, a job description and the job’s location is illegal under the Employment Security Law.

The government will inform businesses that offer platforms for advertisements social media of the requirements. The clarification will be included in new guidelines that will be complied by the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry by next May. The government will also urge the businesses to include the requirements in their standards for removing postings.

Since dark part-time jobs have sometimes been disguised as one-time job offers, the government will instruct platforms to tighten their screening process to prevent dark part-time jobs from being posted on their websites.

To prevent the misuse of social media, platform operators will be urged to strictly verify the identity of users when they open an account.

A new investigative method will also be introduced. In past robberies, the organizers have threatened to harm job applicants’ families after making applicants send them an image of their driver’s license. That is why the measures introduce “disguised identity investigations,” in which investigators disguise themselves as job applicants and send images of fake IDs to crime organizers.

The National Police Agency will examine how such investigations can be conducted under existing laws and will formulate guidelines. The agency is looking to start the practice sometime next year.

Measures will also be taken against apps that are highly confidential. Signal and other apps that are often used to recruit people for dark part-time jobs are run by overseas companies and it can take time to communicate with them during investigations.

The government will encourage these operators to set up a contact point for Japan so that information can be obtained promptly.